Warning: Review Contains Spoilers
“The Dark Knight” is a tragedy. A powerful, dark, and moving tragedy. So much so, that the narrative of this film would likely make Shakespeare and Sophocles green with envy. And while the film is named after Bruce Wayne’s alter ego, it’s Harvey Dent that the narrative chooses to follow. In fact the film could easily have been called “The Tragedy of Harvey Dent” except for the fact that such a title would spoil the entire movie.
We all know that Batman was born from tragedy. Young Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents murdered before his very eyes. Out of that sorrow and anger, a young boy became an instrument of justice. In fact, he became an inspiration. Especially to the people of Gotham City. However, “The Dark Knight” takes our hero and pulls him back into the tragic realm.
As “The Dark Knight” begins, Batman is a hero, terrifying the crime kingpins in Gotham’s underworld and doing his part to make things safer for the city’s upstanding citizens. A new District Attorney has just been elected: Harvey Dent, Gotham’s “White Knight” (played to perfection by Aaron Eckhart). Batman, Dent, and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (soon to be Commissioner Gordon) meet up and devise a plan to take down the crime syndicates as well as a new (pardon the pun) wild card in town: The Joker (played with maniacal magnificence by the late Heath Ledger). Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and men too often go astray. And this plan definitely goes astray, due, in no small part, to the chaotic nature of the Joker.
And that’s where the film really gets interesting. We get to witness the trinity’s triumphs and tragedies as their plan comes together and then ultimately unravels. And as Dent falls, so fall the hopes of Batman & Gordon (who are left to pick up the pieces when it’s all over). Director Christopher Nolan spends so much time focused on Dent and Joker, but it never feels like he’s neglecting Batman/Bruce or Gordon. However Bruce and Gordon’s narrative threads are primarily spent reacting to the Joker and Dent. And that’s definitely not a bad thing.
While the film is predominantly a serious tale of dark and terrifying times, it’s not without its own moments of levity. And while they are infrequent, they are quite welcome and don’t detract from the overall feel of the narrative. And being as much a fan of good humor as I am, they were greatly appreciated.
Also, just as “Batman Begins” borrowed source material from “Batman: Year One”, Nolan borrowed some of the major plot points for “The Dark Knight” from “Batman: The Long Halloween” and it was definitely a wise decision. Because it added little things for the comic fans to pick up on (such as the “I believe in Harvey Dent” campaign slogan), but casual fans wouldn’t necessarily have noticed (and yet, they wouldn’t feel like they were missing anything either).
If there’s anything negative that I have to say about the film, it’s that it feels a little long. Granted, the filmmakers needed all that time to make the film’s narrative flow properly, but there were times when I was checking my watch to see how much longer the movie was going to last. The only other problem that I had was the denouement. I’m referring to the unresolved plot threads. Now, I’ll agree that they were minor plot elements when compared to the overall story, but you could see that things were being set up for a subsequent film. And I want to know where it’s written that every sequel that comes out these days HAS to set up things for the next sequel? Why can’t the second film in a series just tell a self-contained story and then conclude itself? The third film could still build upon the second film without any kind of segue. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.
All in all, it was good film. Was it better than “Batman Begins”? I don’t know. I think they’re about equal. However, I will definitely be picking this up when it comes out on DVD. Nolan has given us two Batman films that have treated the denizens of Gotham with dignity, justice, and intelligence (unlike some other Batman director I could mention *cough*Joel Schumacher*cough*) and I intend to have both of them in my collection, despite their flaws.
